In the wake of the potential closing of the Bay State Banner, Press Pass TV talks to Boston community members and media makers about the vital role that Ethnic and community media plays in creating a healthy community.

In the summer of 2009, many firehouses have closed their doors to keep costs down. Firefighters say that it is political. The City says that it is financial. What's missing from this discussion? Press Pass TV examined Menino's controversial "brownout" policy which seeks to shut down certain fire-stations in order to combat alleged sick day abuses.

Simply put, the obstacle to real health reform is the insurance and drug lobby's stranglehold on Democrat and Republican administrations and Congress. Corporate lawyers draft new laws, sign-off on changes, and industry officials staff the FDA, CDC, and other related agencies, then return to high-paying jobs in the sectors they represent. Public welfare is unconsidered under a system favoring profits, so achieving real reform is near-nil. Whatever, if any legislation, passes, will make a dysfunctional system worse by rationing care, leaving growing millions uninsured, many others underinsured, while enriching insurers, drug companies, and large hospital chains.

The leadership within the Peace and Freedom Party wants a measure to support same-sex marriage on the California ballot in 2010. Kevin Akin says, “The fight for human rights is back on the ballot for 2010, and if it fails, then 2012.”

The once-solid North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) is starting to show its age. The 1994 trade agreement that laid the foundation for the economic/political integration of North America is encountering serious internal ruptures, threatening future “progress.”

The problems are numerous: fights over trade, immigration, and military cooperation are all issues that Obama recently discussed in Mexico with his NAFTA partners, Mexico and Canada. The annual meeting that usually delivers plans for additional integration was instead used to remedy these heated issues, none of which were fully solved.

Good afternoon compañeras y compañeros, passersby, workers, bosses, fellow-citizens, humans, aliens. We unite today to celebrate the resistance to the military coup in Honduras, to lament for the fallen, disappeared, & wounded in the struggle, & to shout NO to the impunity of the men who have, for the moment, overturned the will of the Honduran people. Now we witness, in this twist of irony that is a drop of the lifeblood of history, that the actions of the golpistas not only fortify the popular will they aim to repress, they have set off an awakening in Honduras that no fleet, airforce infantry or death-squad will be capable of reversing.

On Tuesday, August 11, nearly 60 people gathered at 4:30pm on the Park Street Station entrance to speak out in solidarity with the Honduran resistance. A diverse group of people held signs that read, “Micheletti fuera / out!”, “Bring democracy back to Honduras”, “Action to remove the coup from Honduras, now!”, “Honduras resists, democracy now!” The event was organized in response to a call for a Global Day of Action by the National Front of Resistance Against the Coup in Honduras.